Roots

SPORTS CAR CLUB OF AMERICA NOVEMBER 2011

A LOOK BACK WITH SCCA CLUB HISTORIAN PETER HYLTONPHOTOS RUPERT BERRINGTONThis month’s cover showcases Brianne Corn at this year’s Tire Rack Solo National Championships. With her B Modified National Championship, Corn became the third woman to everbreak the “glass pylon” by winning an Open class at the Solo National Championships. The first woman to acheive this feat was Shauna Marinus (RIGHT) in 1998 driving an A StreetPrepared Mazda RX- 7. In 2005, B Street Prepared Chevrolet Corvette competitor Rita Wilsey became the second woman to enter the Open class record book.

10 years ago in SportsCar...

25 years ago in SportsCar...

SCCA saluted two longtime members who had been lost in the crash of UnitedAirlines flight 93 as part of theinfamous Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.Flight 93 was the plane that failedto reach its intended target aspassengers heroically overpoweredthe terrorists, bringing the planedown in a field in a sparselypopulated area of western Pennsylvania. Linda Gronlundand Joe DeLuca were members of NorthernNew Jersey Region (NNJR). Linda had been amember of the Northeast Division Flaggingand Communications team and Joe had been aflagger before racing in Showroom Stock. Hewas the 1986 North Atlantic Road RacingChampionship (NARRC) champion. He wasalso the creator of a cartoon series known as“The Adventures of Raymond the Cat,” whichwas published for years in the NNJRnewsletter, Pole Position.

SCCA announced a new pro series for small sport pickup trucks. Havingtaken years to even accept carswith roofs and four seats, manytraditionalists viewed this movewith derision. However, SpecialProjects Vice President JimHaynes explained, “Today’s smallsport truck is the equivalent ofyesterday’s MG-TD. The youth market is heavily intotrucks. Trucks are today’s sports cars.” Whilenot everyone accepted thatphilosophy, the series nonethelessdid become a success. Vehiclesinitially accepted for the series werethe Chevrolet S- 10, the MazdaB2000, the Isuzu Pickup, the JeepComanche, the Dodge Ram 50, theMitsubishi Mighty Max, the FordRanger, the Toyota Truck and theNissan Pickup.

In the November 2001
issue, a news item
showed the ground
breaking for the new
SCCA headquarters
in Topeka, Kan. “We’re
not here to build a
building,” said then
SCCA President and
CEO Steve Johnson.
“This is a home...”